Steam Vs. Gog.com: Battletech -Windows11.

[iPPCs]

Wild stuff.

Steam version works great, I wanted to seperate the MODS from Steam version to a Standalone version that wouldn't bother my Vanilla Steam install.

Welp, on OTHER systems haven't had an issue beyond the 'infinite loading' spinner issue, which was resolved years back.

However, on Alienware R16 system, the Gog.com version will install great, setup great, runonce great, close restart Btech great, play games, start new career/campaigns great...

... however, on reboot of entire computer, get blackscreen Battletech on it's own start. OR, will get blackscreen on load of any missions, OR start of any new campaigns/careers.

Just weirdness. Have posted at the Gog.com forums also, just doubt many have this issue also. The gog.com version is unplayable, EXCEPT for a brand new install every time I want to play it under the auspices of NEVER REBOOTING the system. LoL

Have had this issue both before and after the latest Dec2024 Nvidia drivers, so no idea what's causing it. Since other references to 'similar but not identical' issues have a tie-in to Nvidia drivers.

Thanks for reading, if anyone knows... Help! =)

[Spotter]

Deciding which game to DL, depends if you want to use Cheat Apps too.
That said, the following help stop Crashes on Start-Up; 1. TURN OFF ALL VPN APPS before starting the game.
2. Delay Anti-Virus for at least 10 minutes, before starting Downloads, and the Game.Why do those two things? Because both Apps tend to interfere with several games as they Load, and DownLoad updates and games New material.

[Jamie Wolf]

crashes are unfortunately very hard to narrow down the cause. you could check the game logs/dumps it may produce on a crash or the windows event viewer to help gather clues to the cause of the crash.

As someone who uses both the steam (for playing the game) and the gog (for mod development) versions of the game regularly, I've not seen such issues before personally.

[VenomousFangs]

I have only got BT on GoG and no issues, so likely a problem with the PC or software configuration.

[s | voxx]

I'm guessing it's a shared %AppData%\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and registry settings issue. I don't think 2 instances (GOG and Steam) can co-exist. I would bet that 2 different windows logins would solve this.

[iPPCs]

Now this from Voxx is useful insight...

Originally posted by s | voxx:

I'm guessing it's a shared %AppData%\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and registry settings issue. I don't think 2 instances (GOG and Steam) can co-exist. I would bet that 2 different windows logins would solve this.

... However, this was actually 'at issue' prior to installing the Steam BTech version itself on this diff system. So, this system is actually just factory settings, then Gog BTech, which has the problems noted above. I still do not know the fix, however... I have now also installed Steam and thereby the Steam version of BTech. No added issues have occurred, however, the prior issues with the Gog BTech version persist.

(I must note for completeness that the Nvidia drivers were factory set and upgraded, both before and after Gog BTech was installed. However, after many diff attempts to 'leave' the system as is and figure out the issue, I did upgrade to latest Nvidia drivers as well, and many days have been spent seeing the same issues as posted above. No change to the issues at all. Bummer.)

: New Gog BTech install.
: Run BTech once, to allow Harebrained to 'set' settings, Exit.
:On restart, start Career OR Campaign, runs just fine.
:Exit, restart BTech (not system restart)... Runs fine, saves, re-load saves, start new games, etc.

:: However, on re-boot of SYSTEM... (regardless of now testing this running Steam BTech or not)... Gog BTech only does the above described headaches, until new install...

... then the same behaviors above play out. Runs fine, no matter what you do or how long the game runs, or re-load saves, make saves, etc. Just perfect, then on system restart... sheesh. Can't figure this out.

Thank you, Gents for your help.

Hope I can figure this out myself as well. This is just such odd app behavior.

LoL =)

[iPPCs]

Originally posted by s | voxx:

I'm guessing it's a shared %AppData%\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and registry settings issue. I don't think 2 instances (GOG and Steam) can co-exist. I would bet that 2 different windows logins would solve this.

... Hey Vox... one thing though that is odd about this system... when I do a Chkdsk /f to see if there is any issue at all with the SSD/etc... it states that the drive is in use by other program (not while BTech is running btw, general system review here outside of BTech/Steam/etc...) And, I can't seem to find any program that is 'using' the SSD. Any ideas how to track that down? Chkdsk /f runs fine on system restart btw. Just, it's odd to me that the SSD is basically 'locked out' for even checking it until a reboot. It 'seems' to me that something is 'mounting' the SSD or acting as 'if' the SSD is mounted. But, cannot see anything that might be doing that.

Just trying to chase down this rabbit hole. Thanks. =)

[Jamie Wolf]

Originally posted by s | voxx:

I'm guessing it's a shared %AppData%\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and registry settings issue. I don't think 2 instances (GOG and Steam) can co-exist. I would bet that 2 different windows logins would solve this.

As far as I'm aware multiple installs can happily coexist. I have both steam and gog versions installed right now, both are modded to some degree or another but they happily load and play

[iPPCs]

Originally posted by Jamie Wolf:

Originally posted by s | voxx:

I'm guessing it's a shared %AppData%\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and registry settings issue. I don't think 2 instances (GOG and Steam) can co-exist. I would bet that 2 different windows logins would solve this.

As far as I'm aware multiple installs can happily coexist. I have both steam and gog versions installed right now, both are modded to some degree or another but they happily load and play

Jamie, sadly, I can't get the Gog.com version to run correctly at all. Steam version is running just fine. Bummer. Wanted to seperate them so could have one Mod on one, another on the other.

[Jamie Wolf]

:shrug: works for me, just did so the other day

[iPPCs]

Originally posted by Jamie Wolf:

:shrug: works for me, just did so the other day

Originally posted by s | voxx:

I'm guessing it's a shared %AppData%\LocalLow\Harebrained Schemes\BATTLETECH and registry settings issue. I don't think 2 instances (GOG and Steam) can co-exist. I would bet that 2 different windows logins would solve this.

Okay, after dozens of installs of Gog's BTech... It's 'for whatever reason' gotten to a state where it 'works', but, works very 'roughly'.

So, on startup now, I see the HBS Logo, then the Unity one... then, it goes to full blackscreen... no sound, no visual artifacts, nothing but flat-black. So... After it's like this for a 'time'... I can hit Escape and it will within about another 1 to 2 minutes go to the Game Main Menu area where I can start a new Campaign/Career/etc. At this point, it acts normally. Sounds, etc... just fine. There is a slightly longer delay on starting missions/etc.

I have added the Registry Entry for i9's and up for the SSL error, however, even after adding that... I still had to do a full reinstall before I could see this new 'behavior'.

So, I would say that at the moment, it's working... but, very roughly.

I have latest all drivers for Nvidia and this Alienware R16 system. All Windows updates.

Anyways, there is probably at least a couple people also experiencing something similar, hopefully this posting helps someone else somewhat as well.

I'm going to guess this has something to do with that SSL error issue.

Here's that fix/WindowsAdvancedSettings edit link::

https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019775837-Game-does-not-launch-Intel-10th-gen-CPU-or-newer?product=gog

While I cannot for certain say that this 'was my fix'... since I still had to reinstall BTech TWICE MORE after I did this 'fix'... for whatever reason... this process in its entirety has led to the game at least loading as it is now past the intro video screen.

Hope this helps someone.

Thank you folks for being willing to help out. =)